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A lot of people have asked me about my heels from the last blog post on my new Gwenstella Made 1950’s Style Country Garden Dress. I have been keeping quiet about it because it’s a DIY project that I have been meaning to share! I have had this pair of pink mid heels for a good 3 years or so and they have turned kinda filthy. When I say filthy, I mean.. really filthy…

The faux suede surface is scratched in many different areas, the soles have worn off, and the interior is slowly peeling away. It is tempting to simply chuck them away and get a new pair. But there’s still so much wearable lifespan to them and I hate to send them to the landfill so soon. Really, it’s still overall a very structurally-sound pair of heels. And so, obviously, I had to make do and mend!

I was inspired by a few different pom pom heels I have seen online, and I knew adding pom poms would be a super quick and easy way to make my heels cute again. This took me less than 30 minutes from start to the end. Here’s how I did it:

Materials:

A pair of heels

Foam soles

Yarn

Pom pom maker

Hot glue gun

Felt

Scissors

Steps:

1. Trim foam soles to fit the soles of the heels. Glue them in place.

2. Make 2 pom poms. Trim them and make sure they look almost identical.

3. Flatten a side of each pom pom and glue a small piece of round felt on the flattened side.

4. Play around with the position of the pom pom on the heels. This is important as you want to make sure you get the right spot before securing it with hot glue gun. When you think you’re ready, secure the pom poms on the shoes using hot glue gun!

I am so happy with how this DIY project turned out! This is also a great stash busting project for anyone who has too much yarn lying around, like me. I have a few other pom pom projects lined up for the blog. If you like pom poms as much as I do, you can look forward to seeing here! xx

So in my last Vintage of the Month (VOTD) post, I promised that I would share the super quick and dirty tutorial for making the dainty rose choker that I wore in the outfit. Here it is!

There’s tons of 90’s inspired choker tutorials out there on the Internet. In my opinion, doing it with a ribbon and some chain is definitely more ideal but I wanted to work with what I have (i.e. yards and yards of elastic) instead of heading out to buy new supplies, so this is what I came up with.

Materials:
Needle and thread
Little roses
Wide, black elastic

Steps:

1. Measure the diameter of your neck. Add 0.5″ seam allowance on both ends for sewing. Cut the required length of elastic. For example, the diameter of my neck is about 12″ and I wanted 0.5″ as seam allowance on both ends, so I cut a length of elastic measuring 12″ + (2 x 0.5″) = 13″.

2. Sew ends of elastic together. Ensure to sew 0.5″ from the ends of the elastic. You now have a basic, plain elastic choker.

3. Sew 3 little roses together to form a cluster of 3 roses.

4. Sew the cluster of roses to the centre of the basic choker.

5. Pull, stretch and wear over your head!

I hope this tutorial is useful for anyone wanting to make some elastic chokers! xx G

If you’re thinking to yourself that the little roses look awfully familiar, you’re right. They are the same ones that I used for my 1950’s style Baby Doll PJs set!

Living in hot and sunny Singapore means that I have my hair tied up when I am at home most of the time. After completing my adorable 1950’s baby doll pjs set, I decided that I had to have something just as cute to tie my hair up with.

A bow is the simplest thing you could add to your hair for an instant cute and retro flair. Using a ribbon to tie a bow to a ponytail is a very popular hairstyle in the 1950’s and 1960’s. While I like the idea of having bows in my hair at home, I don’t quite like the trouble of using a regular hair elastic and then adding a bow in later.

I wanted something quick, easy and fuss-free. And so, I decided to make a pair of these hair bow ties for use at home. It took me less than 5 minutes to whip both of them up, so I decided to share how I made them with everyone too!

Materials:

Toilet paper roll (or a pipe, a slim glass, or even a lover’s wrist – just something to tie your elastic around with)

Elastic (at least 28″ for 1 hair tie)

A pair of scissors

Method:

1. Lay your elastic under the toilet roll. Ensure you have at least 12″ to work with to the right of the toilet roll.

2. Hold the elastic on the right with your right hand, and the elastic on the left with your left hand. Cross them and pull one side under the other.

3. Create a loop on each side and cross your left loop over the right loop as shown in the photo.

4. After pulling the left loop over the right loop, pull it from under the right loop.

5. Pull the loops gently to tighten the bow.

6. Pull the elastic that is still wrapped around the toilet roll to tighten the bow even more. Neaten as you go along.

7. Cut the excess elastic off once you are done neatening the bow, to create the bow that you want. You may want to have a bow with longer strands coming down.

8. You now have a sturdy, and sweet hair bow tie!

I have been wearing this hair tie at home a lot with my baby doll pjs. Now all I need is a pair of pink fluffy house slippers to complete the dreamy 1950’s stay-home look!